Students brave snow, cold for Maryland-Duke seats

The Terps take on the Duke Blue Devils at 6 p.m. Saturday and the basketball game is likely the last time the two teams will face off in College Park as ACC rivals. And students lined up for days to get tickets to the big game.

COLLEGE PARK – Hundreds of University of Maryland students lined up outside the Comcast Center Saturday to get the best seats in the house, including some who camped out for days, ahead of the most anticipated game of the year.

The Terps take on the Duke Blue Devils at 6 p.m. Saturday and the basketball game is likely the last time the two teams will face off in College Park as ACC rivals.

“We hate Duke. That’s what it’s all about. It’s Maryland basketball and that’s the number one reason why we came here,” U.Md. sophomore Jason Vadhan said.

Vadhan and his friends slept on the ground and in their cars since Wednesday night to be the first in line.

“In the snow, in the rain, in the frost, we’ve stuck it out since then,” Vadhan said. “We’re running on all adrenaline. Five hours of sleep the past three nights.”

Freshmen Kate Correia and Beth Kerley say the historic last match-up is why they claimed their spot in line days ago.

“This is our only home game. So this is huge for us.”

The students bundled up in sleeping bags and blankets, taking turns holding spots in line.

“There’s 25 of us in our group so we’re rotating. We’ve been doing shifts since Thursday night, and then I got here at 6 o’clock this morning,” said Junior Taryn Lowrey.

Freshman Saman Bahdorie got in line around 8 a.m., realized he forgot his ticket, and went back to get it.

“This is the biggest game of my college life. We’re definitely going to win. I’m guaranteeing a win,” he said.